


Often Wrong Has Broken A Heart

by obviouslyelementary



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Abused Lore, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Good lore, Hurt/Comfort, Implied abuse, Introspection, Lore POV, Past, Past Abuse, Physical Abuse, Post 'Brothers', Redeemed Lore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24709744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obviouslyelementary/pseuds/obviouslyelementary
Summary: They weren't just envy of him.They weren't just afraid of him.They were angry at him. Tired of him. Annoyed. Uncomfortable. Untrusting. Rude. Mean. Evil.Not like Dr. Soong knew any of it. Not like he would believe if he knew.
Relationships: Data & Lore (Star Trek), Lore & Noonian Soong
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	Often Wrong Has Broken A Heart

**Author's Note:**

> I watched 'Brothers' and i'm sad for Lore

They weren't just envy of him.

They weren't just afraid of him.

They were angry at him. Tired of him. Annoyed. Uncomfortable. Untrusting. Rude. Mean. Evil.

Not like Dr. Soong knew any of it. Not like he would believe if he knew. No, doctor Often Wrong Noonian Soong himself would never believe that one of his colonists would do any harm, physical or otherwise, to his android. First, why would they? It was his creation, his work, and they had no right and no stupid minds to interfere with his work. Second, what would that bring to them? Satisfaction, happiness? The colonists were humans, they were inherently good, they were polite and sure, they called him names and teased him all around, but that was because he was visionary, an intelligent person, someone beyond his own time.

That was what he told Lore, in the times they spent together.

Dr. Soong seemed to enjoy the company of his creations more than he enjoyed human socialization. However, that did not stop him from wanting his creations to interact with others. The first fifty androids he tried to make were always shown to the people of the colony and allowed to wonder around freely. And even if the people seemed bothered, it didn't matter, because they had never lasted more than a month or so.

They thought the same about Lore, when he was first introduced.

But that did not happen.

Lore was like a child, and doctor Soong found him extremely endearing. For him, he was like a child on a body of a man, discovering, learning, feeling things for the first time. Unlike any machine at the moment, produced by any species they knew of, Lore was the first one with feelings and an extensive ability to simulate human responses. He liked touching things, smelling, licking, all to understand it better. He asked Noonian many questions, every single day, and showed more and more of his personality at every single second he spent awake.

Of course, Soong took a while to present him to the colonists, not wanting to be teased any further, so he watched Lore carefully, answered his questions, and made sure to allow him to explore everything he wanted in the safety of their home.

But home became too little to Lore very quickly.

"Father, why can't I go outside and be with the others?" he asked, one evening, as he and Noonian ate dinner together. He did not need to eat, but the doctor still taught him how to do so, mostly for easy integration in human activities.

"Well Lore, I don't believe you are ready to meet other people yet. And I don't believe they are ready to meet you either" he said, calmly, looking at Lore with fondness. "But soon you will be able to."

"I do not understand. I was created to help others. To help humans. Why am I not allowed to leave and help humans?" he asked, and he sounded frustrated. It was one of Noonian's favorite things about Lore, how easily he had assimilated feelings and their physical responses.

"All in due time Lore. You will help them soon. Not yet. You're not ready" he said, firm but gentle, trying to show Lore something close to a father's finishing statement. However, Lore was not a human child. Sometimes, he failed on understanding easy principals.

"I am!" he exclaimed, showing even more of his fantastic sense of emotional responses. "I am ready! I know all about human culture, interactions, possible responses! I can help! I want to help!"

"Lore, it's time for bed" Noonian said with a sigh, standing up, but Lore was quicker, standing up in half the time and stepping back.

"Don't turn me off" he said, almost in a desperate manner, and even the doctor was confused at the moment. He had never seen Lore show so much... reluctance on being turned off.

"Lore..."

"Don't. It is dark, quiet, and empty, and I hate it" Lore said, stepping back with his hands raised as if he was being threatened with a weapon of some kind. "Please... I will not stop you but please father, I do not wish to be turned off."

"Your mind needs time to reprocess what you lived today so tomorrow you can assimilate it to your banks..." Noonian said slowly, stepping closer, and Lore's eyes widened further, almost as if he was about to cry, if he could.

"Father please..."

"I'm... sorry Lore, it is for your own good" he said, reaching for his side and turning the android off. It had never been this hard before, and when Lore went limp, knowing he wouldn't be able to hold him, the doctor allowed him to fall on the ground like a board.

And doctor Soong realized... it did not feel half as bad as it should have.

He was allowed out a few days later, and Lore was thrilled. He seemed to have forgotten all that had happened the days before, the fights they had had, and now he was entirely focused on learning about the colonists, their places of origin, and how he could help them.

At first, he was completely ignored. No one believed he would last a week, let alone a month. But he lasted a week, a month, two, four, ten, and Soong was thrilled, he was excited, he was proud.

But the colonists... they hated him.

Lore was too much. He didn't know about personal space. He didn't know when to stop asking questions. He didn't know what was funny and what was inconvenient. He wanted to learn so much that no one had time or patience to stop. Soon, he wasn't just another one of Often Wrong's creations, he was an inconvenience, an aberration, a freak, something the humans didn't want to be around.

They called him 'it', 'the walking machine', 'the talking circuits' and many other horrible names and words that were meant in a humiliating fashion. Dr. Soong assured it was all in good fun, but slowly, Lore realized it wasn't. Children were scared of him, adults avoided him like a plague, he couldn't come close to anyone or anything without being ostracized or looked at like a disgusting worm in their path.

And even to him, that wasn't completely aware of emotions, actions like that hurt. And they hurt bad.

But they were verbal aggressions only, and with that he could live. He would learn to adapt and make of it an advantage.

Until one night, when he was returning from the grocery station with the food for the week, and was assaulted by a group of humans. They were all intoxicated with alcohol, as he detected by their way of talking, walking and moving, but they were strong and in larger number. Lore would never attack a human being, at the time, and he did not do so when they approached, nor when they tossed him down on the ground and hit him constantly, calling him names and kicking him on the ground.

He felt no pain, but he was damaged in many places. And the humiliation... seemed to be worst than anything he could have felt.

When he returned home, with the groceries and a damaged body, he tried to explain to the doctor what had happened, what they had done to him. But Noonian refused to believe any colonist would do that to his creation. He yelled at Lore, insisting that he would stop lying, and before he could defend himself, the android was shut down for repairs.

In the next day, he was brand new, and Soong apologized for screaming, but the damage had been done.

The abuse became constant, and the colony did not take anything lightly. More and more people began wanting to deactivate him, demanding that Soong ended his experiments and let this idea of making sentient androids go, to no avail. They took off their hatred on Lore, who was slowly but surely losing his patience and his sense of good or bad.

He didn't believe humans that mistreated him that much were any deserving of any type of forgiveness.

Lore grew angry and tired of their ways. Before they could assimilate anything, he wanted more. He wanted to take control over the colony, to learn, to adapt. He was rude and cold to the people who dared to speak to him, and he was not afraid to threaten them. He began defending himself, causing problems along the way, humans that were severely hurt, and others that were too scared to even talk to him.

And while Soong watched, he decided to make up a new android. One that... would not get out of control, no matter how mistreated he was.

Lore remembered Soong telling him about Data.

He remembered being told he would be disassembled.

He remembered the look on his 'father's face when he was finally shut down for what Lore believed would be the last time.

And he was in the dark... for long, dreadful years.

At first, he wanted to destroy everything Data had. All his friends. His new family. His rank and reputation. Everything.

Then, he wanted to destroy Noonian Soong, the man that made him this way, the man that created him only to take him and break him in parts in the moment he was inconvenient.

He wanted to destroy the god damned universe for what it had done to him.

Yet somehow, he found himself with Data again, onboard the Enterprise, waiting to be judged by some type of council back in a nearby starbase. He couldn't believe he wasn't there as a captive. He couldn't believe he was there as a guest. And he couldn't believe his brother didn't simply... kill him.

"Do you think... do you think they will disassemble me?" Lore asked, quieter than he intended, but he felt powerless now, and by his own choice even. He was tired of running. He just wanted... resolution. He was staring down at his hands, sitting on the couch, unable to look at Data in the eyes.

"I sincerely doubt it" was Data's answer.

Always so polite and... unfeeling.

"Really? I am a criminal in so many degrees. I killed a full colony and my creator, and threatened a Galaxy type vessel. And above it all, I am an android. I have no rights in a human society. Do you really think they will absolve me?" Lore asked, frustrated, looking at Data finally. His brother was staring at him, with that passive expression of his.

"I do not know" Data said, and Lore almost groaned and threw something at him. But there was nothing to throw, so he just groaned.

"Why am I here? Why am I not in a cell, alone? Is this some type of torture?" he asked, laying down on the couch, but turning his head to look at his brother again. Data looked confused.

"Do you wish to be placed in a cell? Or left alone?"

"No, I... you're so stupid. You are impossible. I have no idea how any human is capable of being around you" Lore said, frustrated, and just by looking at Data's passive expression, he could feel that anger boil down to just... regret. Guilt.

"Unlike you, I was not designed to feel any emotions. So I am sorry if I am unable to fulfil your desire for pity. I can simulate a adequate response however, if you wish."

"I don't want you to pity me" Lore sighed and sat up again. "I don't know what I want... I... I think I am just tired. Of all of this. Of this fight. Against myself. And against the universe."

"You do not have to fight me."

Lore looked at Data, and it was weird to believe that someone so curious, naïve and expressionless was his own synthetic flesh and lab-made blood. And yet, there he was. Data. His stupid, machine-like younger brother.

If Lore knew any better, he would even say he might love him.

"Yes, I know I do not."

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated.


End file.
